Budget Low Light Lens for Portraits and Indoor Work

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WhiteLight

Senior Member
Mike d90 said:
The 50mm f/1.8 is easily found cheap. Would you suggest that? Is it considered low light or do I really need to get the 1.4? That small aperture difference makes a huge money difference. Is the extra speed worth it?
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The only difference been the 35 and 50mm's is the focal distance and the field of view. I have the 35mm and my friend had the 50mm so I've tried that too on my d5100 which is a crop sensor.
Your main gripe about the 50mm would be the limited area you can cover.
But if you are looking at shooting portraits mainly, then the 50mm is the way to go.
This lens wouldn't do well if you are shooting a group or you want anything that's slightly wide-ish.
What lend do you currently have?
If you have any zoom lens that covers both 50 and 35mm, put it on.
Take pics at both 50mm and 35mm on the zoom and you'll know what seems better in terms of field of view.
Quality wise both are great
The 1.8s are definitely low light specialists

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
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Mike D90

Senior Member
WhiteLight said:
This lens wouldn't do well if you are shooting a group or you want anything that's slightly wide-ish.
What lend do you currently have?
If you have any zoom lens that covers both 50 and 35mm, put it on.
Take pics at both 50mm and 35mm on the zoom and you'll know what seems better in terms of field of view.
Quality wise both are great
The 1.8s are definitely low light specialists

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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My lenses are in my signature. I am not looking for a "portrait" only lens. I am looking more for a lens that would be good for any indoor low light work. Something I can practice with and use a few years until I feel I am ready to take on a wedding if it came my way. It will be use for portraits as well but I didn't necessarily need a dedicated lens just for portraits. I would probably opt for my 70-300mm lens for portraits provided I have the distance between me and subject.

I have 35mm and 50mm covered but not in a fast lens.
 
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Lee532

Senior Member
I got the 35mm f1.8g prime as a Christmas present and I am really impressed with it.
Using it on my D5100 I think good for indoor low light. Portrait, sharp wide open and great bokeh. For a group photo the 35 beats the 50.
It should also be in your price range.
 
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Mike D90

Senior Member
Lee532 said:
I got the 35mm f1.8g prime as a Christmas present and I am really impressed with it.
Using it on my D5100 I think good for indoor low light. Portrait, sharp wide open and great bokeh. For a group photo the 35 beats the 50.
It should also be in your price range.
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AF-S 35mm 1.8 prime lens?
 
Scott Murray

Scott Murray

Senior Member
Ok Mike.... thinking about it... You need a flash for portrait photography, so the 50mm 1.8 would do. Look at my recent SB-910 shots mucking around, I think they were at f/3'ish so a f/1.8 would be fine... And if you had available light then 1.8 would be grand for the price.
 
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Mike D90

Senior Member
Scott Murray said:
Ok Mike.... thinking about it... You need a flash for portrait photography, so the 50mm 1.8 would do. Look at my recent SB-910 shots mucking around, I think they were at f/3'ish so a f/1.8 would be fine... And if you had available light then 1.8 would be grand for the price.
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Yes, I have tons of flash (more than I have listed in my sig) so flash photography is no worries. I can use about any lens. Without flash in low light I have nothing. So I guess it is between the 35mm 1.8 and the 50mm 1.8 or I can get an older AI-S 50mm 1.4 and go manual.

I wish I could afford a good fast zoom from say 18mm to around 70mm or so that would cover portrait or group shots.

But, now that you mention it Scott it might make more sense to get the AF-S 35mm 1.8 for the low light stuff and just go with flash if I need to do portrait and use my 18-70mm f/3.5 for the portraits.
 
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Mike D90

Senior Member
I decided to hold off for a while on the low light lens and maybe I will figure out more of what I really want or need. It will likely be a while before I am in a low light indoor situation so I will work with what I have for them moment.

I have some real portrait work coming up soon and I think I need the lighting equipment more than a new lens.

I spent the budget for the lens on two 43" studio brolly boxes, two light stands, one 43" white shoot through umbrella, 5-in-1 40" round reflectors/diffuser discs, and a set of four radio transceiver flash slave triggers.
 
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